October 2006

[Bronze]

Am I the first one here or have I completely missed the thread? If this is the only thread please come and join me
Bron

Hallo, can I join?

Ds2 born on Sunday, 11lb. Feeling very chuffed today as he has just been weighed and has lost less than the dreaded 10%, so I'm not getting pressured to give him formula. Very sore nipples, though .

hello prettycandles,

many congrats and welcome to the baby thread! Wow, your DS was a good weight! MIne was weeny (6 lb 2 oz) but is getting heavier now I think...

Congrats prettycandles (and ohmigod how big, thought my baby was quite big enough)! hope your nipples are better soon - lansinoh ointment is nice (although v sticky and a total waste of money cos you never use the whole tube)

I went to see my GP today re my sore boob as one segment just isn't draining properly. She thought it was worth trying more antibiotics in case low grade infection and spoke to one of the surgeons on the phone. So now I have to go up to the hospital tomorrow to be assessed there. What a total and utter pain in the butt. I'll be pleased to get it sorted out I have to admit, but the prospect of spending hours sitting around on a surgical admissions unit with a tiny baby really really doesn't appeal. Thank god DH still off so DD can stay with him all day, couldn't manage with both of them. Am feeling very very fed up and wish I'd never gone now...

Saw midwife today, managed to let her know how I was feeling about things. She was really nice and assured me that I was doing great job-its so difficult.

I was also glad that I was in hospital for my birth.
sallyrosie-my experience was like yours, Samanthas head came out sideways and then that emergency button with lots more people appearing for shoulder dystocia (stuck shoulders) then her hand ripping me even more than the cut already done- hence all my stitches. She was fine just a little oxygen needed.
I am told that our hospital does a debriefing session to explain the whole labour to you. I was in second stage for 2 hours and 57 minutes. Pushing became too much.

Got the HV coming tomorrow for the first time then off to register her make her all official.

Take Care all.

pmoore: glad you managed to talk to your mw. Welcome prettycandles!

W had bad night last night - fussing and crying til 1am. No ideawhy - hoping for better night tonight.

Do you find that your newborns are like a good book: un-put-downable? My shoulders ache already. Still, it's nice having that sweet soft fuzz constantly within kissing range.

Last night was dire. Because I'm still struggling with the latch he rarely gets a good, satisfying feed, so he was on and off the boobs for 3h. By 3am I couldn't cope with it any more, so woke dh and sent him to pace the house with ds2, while I sobbed into the pillow and rubbed Lansinoh into my nips.

You'ld have thoyght taht I'd have the hang of it alle by now, ds2 being my 3rd.

Thouygh one thing I've learned is that you need to step aside from feelings of failure and remind yourself that this is a really tough time, most of us have impossibly high standards, and the truth is that we acvtually do a better job of mothering than we give ourselves credit for.

prettycandles, I totally agree: there's so much pressure (mostly coming from oneself) to be the perfect mother and take it all in your stride, whilst trying to ignore the massive hormone influx, shock to the body and mind of having given birth and sleep deprivation all in one..

prettycandles, I totally agree: there's so much pressure (mostly coming from oneself) to be the perfect mother and take it all in your stride, whilst trying to ignore the massive hormone influx, shock to the body and mind of having given birth and sleep deprivation all in one..

pmoore - so glad you managed to talk to your MW. Listen to what prettycandles is saying - we place impossibly high standards onto ourselves and then beat ourselves up when we inevitably fail to meet them. It would be hard enough without trying to establish BFing (which no-one tells you before how bloody hard, tiring and painful it can be) and girly bits that are full of suture material which hurt every time you try to move never mind sit down. Add in a good dose of hormones and seriously - how can anyone expect to feel good? And a newborn doesn't exactly give positive feedback - you could be the best mum in the world and they'd still cry and poop and feed and sleep cos thats all they do! Wait for that first smile, its a reward for the first few weeks of hell...

prettycandles - yes, I love the smell of his hair when I cuddle him in, and the way he'll arch back to look at me then nestle in under my collarbone. Absolutely gorgeous.

I love the fact that W is more alert every day and spends more time just gazing at me (or DH) when he's being cuddled. Also that my stitches are starting to heal so I can sit down properly again

W also getting more chilled - he's happy to be put straight into his crib at night after a fed, which means I get a bit more sleep. I suppose we're all 3 of us learning about this baby business at the moment.

Prettycandles: is it worth contacting La Leche or the NCT for tips? I rang La Leche yesterday and they were really helpful. They also have a local meeting that I can try - first step to bfing in public.

DP has gone back to work today- how strange not to be able just to have that morning shower first thing!

DD has got conjunctivitus. HV came yesterday and Samantha has lost 1oz of birth weight in two weeks-probably due to breast feeding.

I love the feeling of dd laying on chest and sleeping all curled up- nothing like that closeness. MW suggests lots of skin to skin contact as I miss the breast feeding bond.

HV mentioned contraception thoughts yesterday- does she need an answer!?!

knock knock, can I join in..... can't believe I am on the post-natal thread already - ds2 was 2 weeks early - think I am still in a bit of shock about him being here to be honest, was hoping he was a little early, but expecting him to be late iyswim?

breastfeeding still sore, but I know the latch was wrong for the first day or two, had a friend round yesterday to help (she bought a bottle of champagne and a savoy cabbage - both said to help breasfeeding ) and midwife said she would send the community breasteeding bod round today - although, of course, no time give (like I am going anywhere!). Couldn't get the hang of it last time and ended up with mastitis three times in as many weeks, so would really like to get it right this time - but ds1 only got 3 weeks worth last time then formula and he is as healthy as a horse so I hope not to have to cope with that guilt if it doesn't work.

To 2nd time mums - how long did 'afterpains' or whatever they are called (uterus contracting) last for.... they seem a lot more painful this time round - but that could be hazy memory from last time!

catgirl - congratulations!

re afterpains - they were MUCH worse this time round - almost as bad as the first few contractions. I am BFing so they only lasted about a week and my lochia has pretty much stopped now (LO is 3 weeks on Sunday). Take some painkillers!

pmoore - wouldn't stress too much about 1oz weight loss - the scales probably aren't that accurate. Just keep repeating to yourself 'I am a great mum, I am a great mum'

Do you have to be a member of LLL to get advice from them? Am thinking of contacting them as Edward bit me last night and I have a bruise on my boob! He has a bit of a snuffly nose (oh the joys of having a toddler too) and was finding it hard to feed and think he got a bit frustrated trying to latch on to my 'bad' boob. I've expressed this morning instead cos its SORE.

Hi All,

Can only pop in now and again due to being a giant udder at the 'mo!
My poor LO was weighed for first time on Monday, birth weight 7lb, weight on Monday 6lb6oz, and that was her having filled out considerably! You could see her ribs a couple days after she was born. So have spent the last week being an on the tap tit! Today she had put on 5oz in 4 days! It's hard going. I love the look on her face though, when she is stuffed full and falls off the nipple - she looks absolutely, blindingly drunk!! It's really funny.

Anyone done anything stupendously stupid yet? We went to the supermarket yesterday - just the two of us. Finally made it out of the house, got to the checkout and had no money and no cards to pay! Took all my cards out of my purse to go into hospital. Felt like a right doughball.

My labour was hell! Went in with a fairly open mind, with my plan for gas and air, a waterbirth, my homeopathic kit, my aromatherapy oils. Ho, ho! Starting contracting at 12.30am Monday night/Tuesday morning, went into hospital Tuesday evening to monitor baby's heartbeat. Was 3cm, used tens then when 5cm into pool. After 5 hours of excrutiating pain and bellowing/screaming/crying like a 5 year old came out of pool for diamorphine, was still only 5 cm! Had an epidural, which was FANTASTIC . Baby was back to back so contractions were hopeless, they broke my waters, then put me on syntocin. Eventually she appeared at 14.18 on Wednesday! Umbilicol cord snapped = retained placenta = theatre for removal and stitching! Apparently was snoring whilst waiting for theatre to become available - was absolutely knackered!! Oh well, ce la vie, at least LO was fine.

Really annoying though, this sylph-like, gorgeous person from class had 2.5hr delivery with just 2 painkillers!

~Is anyone else suffering from hormonal plooks and sweats/chills? ~Keep waking up soaking in night and perspiring profusely.

Oh well, LO has fallen asleep now she is stuffed again so am away for a snooze. First family day out tomorrow to buy me some jeans to fit my new body!! Breastfeeding makes you starving!! How am I supposed to lose weight when I can't stop eating?

Have a nice weekend all.

hi all-making my way over here.
rumpel that sounds like a nightmare. how are you feeling about it now?

all ok here, though baby Milo is feeding like a maniac-good job as milk has just come in so boobs look ridiculous. Just remembering how much I hate lack of sleep too. It is such a weird twilight world to live in when you have a newborn!

Still cannot believe he was 9lbs1oz after dd being 7lbs 4 oz and my 36 week scan saying he was average size! Not to rub it in Rumpel after you had such a rough time, but his birth was still a better experience than my first despite his size and his shoulders getting a bit stuck.

my afterpains have stopped today but they were a nightmare-I didn't realise they would be that painful as I don't recall having them last time.

Haven't had a chance to read everything below but hope everyone is doing well.

Rumpel,im having the night sweats,but am on painkillers for all my stitches so they not as bad as with first 2 dds,its just that your temp goes up when the milk comes in,it eases off after a few days.

Rumpel: I had a shivery fit when my milk came in - thought it was comination of hormones and lack of sleep. Daytime naps improved matters.

Sounds like you had a scary experience. The thing that shocked me was how much it hurt (should have expected that one!) and that I had NO idea what to do. Spose I expected my body to kind of take over - nope. Sobbing and moaning and insisting I couldn't go through with it - luckily my DH and the mws were brilliant and encouraged me through it. The main thing is that we were both fine and healthy at the end of it all.

Know what you mean about the drunken expression - LO looks dissipated after a good feed . At the last weigh-in, he'd put on nearly a pound. He was a skinny but long baby, now he's on the porky side .

I too am having sweaty nights. Yuck. Didn't realise it was to do with the milk coming in. I've been having one-sided headaches - assumed they're hormonal, too.

Afterpains really gruesome this time - don't remember feeling them at all with no1, with no2 they were no worse than a brief period pain, but this time they're awful. Not worth taking anything for, though, as they don't last long - thank goodness.

Anyone else who's struggling with bfing, do get in touch with one or any of the organisations - theycan really help. You don't need to be members. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get through on the NCT BFing Helpline, but have a friend who is a BF Counsellor for the BFN, and she came over to give me a hand. I just couldn't manage the technique she suggested, but she must have helped because my nips started improving immediately. I'm still trying different positions for nighttime feeds - I manage to satisfy ds2 during the day, but not at night, and I suspect that feeding lying down may be to blame. Though that's a brilliant position for slight;y older babies.

Rumpel, my sympathies. It's really gutting to labour for hours withou progress.

Pmoore, 1oz weightloss is actually not too bad at all. A huge amount of emphasis is put on absolute weights, but when it's such a small amount you've got to take into account things like the variance between different sets of scales, whether the baby had just pood or weed and so on. Far more important, anyway, is the baby's colour, alertness, nappies etc. You just keep cuddling and feeding (by whichever method you choose). I've taken to sleeping withou pj top, and with ds2 in just his nappy so that we get plenty of skin-to-skin.

And, no, you don't need to discuss contraception with the HV if you don't want to. It's just her job to ask .

Morning- dd actually let us have some decent sleep last night after being awake and bringing up most of her feeds all day yesterday. Woke at 1am, 4am and then 7.40am. Not too bad considering.

We are going to have a trip to babies r us today, we have a mamas and papas car seat and Samanthas head is just so uncomfortable in it. Not sure if we can buy anything but it'll be good to look at the toys.

prettycandles- HV wasn't bothered by 1oz loss of Samantha but they are sending someone back on Monday to re-weigh her. She is happy and feeding well so like you say everything else is fine so no worries.

Going for a debriefing session at hospital next week, the midwife that delivered Samantha will go through birth step-by-step for me because of the traumatic end- luckily happy. Quite a good service I thought.

Where I lived when ds1 and dd were born they were weighed every day or every other day until at least day 10, which I found very stressful. Here they only weigh at birth and days 3 and 10. Such a relief for me - no 'performance anxiety' over his weight.

hey - yay i can post here now!!!

LO asleep on been bag, god send!

hi there,

how are everyone's little ones? Darius is doing his angel baby impression now after being very grouchy this morning. Definitely getting more able to focus on faces and more alert..

I started the CIndy Crawford post-baby workout dvd, and it's quite good really. only had time for the 12 minute routine though.

Depressed about the lack of tummy reduction, since he's 2 weeks old now and it's still very pregnant looking, and have been doing lots of gentle half sit ups. Shouldn't be so vain I suppose, but it was so nice before and now looks like an empty handbag!

Morning-I've actually managed to shower and get myself ready before 12pm today! LO is sleeping soundly after letting me have just 4 hours sleep.

My sister just commented on how flat my stomach is getting- well is my day getting better.

Anyone using or used the grobag sleeping bags? Just wondered what people thought I'm bit worried about tog values and what to put on underneath it.

had to laugh when I saw that the ante thread is getting what seems like 50 posts a day and we can barely manage one a day between us!!!!!
I've nothing really to add today - still not much sleep but that's mainly the fault of DS who's a bit jealous and keeps getting up throughout the night wanting cuddles. It can be quite complex really, hugging and shusshing one child whist another dangles off your boob, hanging on by the power of suction alone (ouch). No NCT advisor can help me with that one methinks....